Category Archives: Food & Drink

Capitalizing on the “slow” week in the office between Christmas & New Years- Team Steamie took a quick adventure down south to New Orleans! We wanted to head somewhere (relatively) warm, that neither of us had visited before.

Flight out early morning:

We arrived on weds the 26th to a pretty sleepy New Orleans. We stayed right in the French Quarter, which allowed us to walk nearly everywhere we wanted to explore. We were only one block from Bourbon street- so while, we didn’t spend much time there, we did get to see it fill up each night with the crowds toting their beverages on the street!

We couldn’t’ resist stopping in to Patty O’Brians- where Steve excitedly ordered his hurricane! (And I got a water… very exciting, I know)

Then we headed to The Gumbo Shop for our first cajun meal- and it did not disappoint! Excellent gumbo, and creole, and cozy atmosphere in the small room off the courtyard.

Thursday morning we enjoyed the breakfast in our hotel & set off on our french quarter walking tour. Neat to see the streets we checked out the night before transformed int he daytime. Of course I have loads of photos of great doors, and balconies!

Mid day, we headed to the Mississippi Rivier for a ride on the steamboat Natchez. They did a great job narrating what you saw along the banks, as well as much of the City history. Steve packed his Mufalletta from Central Gorcery for the ride, while I enjoyed the buffet of red beans & rice (and hot coco) while we listened to the dixieland jazz play!

After our boat tour- we were ready to walk, and walk we did! After missing two bussed (whoops!) we decided to just walk ourselves over to the Garden Distrcit. It was a trek, especially with my growing belly slowing me down- and Steve’s travel speed walking! But we reached the historic disctirct and enjoyed oogling the lovely homes! We followed some others who clearly were tourists, and were happliy able to catch the bus back to Canal Street!

We (mostly me, napped a bit in the hotel) then headed out to dinner- I got some scrumptions louisiana crab cakes, while steve ventured a bit more and ordered the Gator po-boy.

Gatorrrrr:

After dinner, we headed to Flannagins pub- which is the meet up point for the nighttime Ghost tour! The zany tour guides did a great job leading us through the streets to stop and regale us with the sordid history & mystery of many of the local buildings.

Friday we cruised some more streets we hadn’t covered yet- scoping out the cute shops on Magazine Street back towards the Garden District (this time we took the bus there & back!) In the afternoon, we partook in a cooking lesson- where we got to watch, and then sample some homemade gumbo, jumbalaya & pralines. (And take home recipes to recreate it on our own later) Just like our other tour- it was a great mix on information and history. And lucky for Steve, it even came with beer! 😉

Friday brought out loads of street performers!

Friday evening it rained a bit- but we stayed dry ducking into the bars on Frenchman Street to see the live bands they have every night! Great music, and fun loving crowds.

Saturday we decided to cover the one tourist spot he hadn’t sampled yet- Cafe Du Monde. We got the requisite coffee & beignets, and with all that powdered sugar, how could anyone complain?

We strolled a bit around Jackson Square, and ducked into the neat courtyards around town.

We visited the museum just off Jackson Square to see the great Katrina exhibit, and the views back out to the square:

and stopped into the Napoleon cafe to get Steve a Mufaletta for the road and headed to the airport.

A great weekend, we saw nearly everything we could think of and enjoyed it all! A great final trip of 2012!